John Lackey gave Pat Neshek a Babe Ruth autographed baseball for jersey number (pic)

When John Lackey was traded from the Boston Red Sox to the St. Louis Cardinals at the deadline, he was confronted with a conundrum, a relatively minor one in the grand scheme of things, but a conundrum nevertheless.

Lackey, much like many of his professional sports-playing contemporaries — especially baseball players — apparently is something of a superstitious fellow, at least as it relates to his jersey number.

The problem presented was that another player on the Cardinals already was wearing No. 41, Lackey’s current jersey number of choice. That player was relief pitcher Pat Neshek. Negotiations ensued.

When this kind of situation inevitably arises, an exchange fat stack of cash typically — but not always — is utilized as a means of conveying the ownership of a jersey number. This is not one of those cases.

Neshek took to Twitter on Wednesday to showcase the booty he acquire for his No. 41: An autographed baseball by none other than the Sultan of Swat, Babe Ruth.

Not a bad haul. While a monetary value was not mentioned, given the Letter of Authenticity accompanying the piece of treasured baseball memorabilia, it’s probably worth a tidy sum. Not a bad get for Neshek. Not a bad get at all.